We toured the small but amazing museum and were lucky enough to have one of the survivors give us a live testimony. It was the last time she was going to do it because her health was failing her and the emotional burden of repeating her story was taking its toll on her. Although she refrained from describing her actual experiences as a Comfort Woman, which is entirely understandable, she did describe the horrific beatings the military officers would inflict on her. She described how one man stabbed her but instead of stabbing in and out, would twist the knife while it was inside her arm in order to give maximum pain. The part that really got me though, was when she described running away from the camp, only to be caught and returned. Instead of begging for forgiveness and promising never to run away again, she refused and was almost beaten to death for it.
Sitting in that room, tearing up as I heard this brave halmoni (“grandmother” in Korean and how Koreans respectfully refer to the Comfort Women) talk about her experiences, I really truly could understand my parents and their generation still bearing such hatred for Japan. I don’t condone it but I can understand it. The way these women were treated was just so awful on so many levels, and of course gender and race played a huge part iin that treatment. As my friend put it, the rape of those women was like the rape Japan's colonialismn inflicted on Korea. It’s heartbreaking to know that sex trafficking similar to what happened at these Comfort stations still occurs all over the world.
And it’s sad that I, like many others, didn’t know much about the Comfort Women until very recently, probably college. I can’t recall any history classes talking about this issue, although in my opinion, it’s a huge part of the history. It profoundly affected, one could argue, both the Korean and Japanese psyche. It’s a history that undoubtedly still influences the twisted relationship
